NOT the MotoGP News – #ArgentinaGP – Frankie says… Relax

Frankie says…

Relax.

In Argentina no one can hear you scream because the sound of the rain drowns out everything. But just like Portugal, the track is fecking marvellous. Yet another Jarno Zaffelli masterpiece.

Two in one? Double the fun!

So first up would be the Sprint race – Saturday’s answer to going down ‘Spoons at lunchtime for a quick sesh*.

The faster of the two Marquez’s (Alex! Who else?) was on pole alongside Bez and Basmati. It wasn’t hard to get on the front row; there were after all, only 18 riders here this weekend. Proving this was Frankly Morbid in 4th. Did somebody say, “contract negotiations”?

In less than a lap, Mir became the next rider to qualify for a sicknote; he was off at Turn 7. A real nightmare for Repsol Honda and Alberto. If that wasn’t a big enough shock, Frankly Morbid took the lead and Brad The Teeth was up from 15th on the grid to 3rd!! What the heck?! By the third lap Brad took the lead and wasn’t to be bested for the rest of the race. Sorry, sprint.

Meanwhile Fabio The Groove Master was riding Frankly’s bike and showing that it really was a dog by being down in 10th. He was on his own bike, but you’d never believe it. He’s not having much fun already this season. Unless you count his Instagram account which is both frightening and wonderful for its depiction of his fashion sense.

Halfway through the race, Brad was still leading and looking like he was gapping the rest and Frankly was still in second. That wasn’t to last. Marini caught Morbid by lap 9 and passed him, followed by Bez doing the same to Frankly.

So Brad defied the gods and won from 15th, whilst the VR46 Academy run by some guy called Uccio took 2nd (Bez) and 3rd (Marini).

It was pretty much a Gun Fight at the OK Corral. Awesome.

And then in the same weekend there was a race thing. Yes, a full 24 laps held the next day.

You know as well as we do that nothing changes but you. And that includes the gird positions baby! Yep, Alex, Bez and Pecco. Boom! And now we were down to 17 riders, losing the wonderous Mir to a dose of ouchness.

And it was wet. Verily it was wet. Not in a monsoon way, just in a wet way.

Unlike Saturday, Sunday wasn’t to be for Brad; crashed on lap 1. That’s one way to reduce the level of expectation. On the same lap Quat was tagged by Origami and dropped even further back (to 16th at one point). Now he’s making Morbid look good; talking of which Frankly was in 4th and looking good – under no pressure and riding well. What?!?!?

For two thirds of the race, it was looking a lot like a cure for insomnia. And then for some reason it wasn’t. The last third of the race was awesome. Fabio Quat started a fight back and by lap 16 was 10th. Morbid was catching Alex Marquez who was in 3rd. Pecco crashed on lap 17 at turn 13 whilst in a safe and sound second place. Two laps later Quat went from 9th to 7th!

And then there was J-Zee. Yes, Zarco. The weird older looking of the two Frenchmen on the grid. The one who likes to tickle the ivories. Having saved his wet tyres and adopted the Olivier Jacque “frog legs” style, J-Zee was flying. First, he dashed Frankly Morbid’s podium hopes and then he stuffed Alex Marquez for silver.

All this time Bez had been so far out in front, we’d forgotten about him.

Rider of the day? Frankly Morbid. Rider of the Weekend? Brad and Frankly.

We loved it all.

 

*noun
INFORMAL • BRITISH
• a session, especially a drinking session.
“an all-day sesh”